SOLVING HISTORICAL COLD CASES WITH HINDSIGHT— AND MODERN TECHNIQUES
For the past 25 years, Philip Mackowiak, a professor (now emeritus) at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, in Baltimore, has hosted a conference about solving the mysterious deaths of historical figures. The gatherings have generated some very intriguing diagnoses for people like Joan of Arc, Abraham Lincoln and this year’s selection, Saladin, the first sultan of Egypt. Newsweek spoke to Mackowiak about his obsession with cold cases, which began with the writer Edgar Allan Poe.
What about Poe’s death intrigued you?
In 1849, Poe was found in a gutter in Baltimore and died soon after. The presenter in our first conference thought his symptoms were from rabies. Based on the writer’s life and medical history, it seemed more likely to me that he died from delirium tremens, a condition stemming from alcohol withdrawal.
Don’t we know the cause of death for Abraham Lincoln and Joan of Arc?
This story is from the May 25,2018 edition of Newsweek.
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This story is from the May 25,2018 edition of Newsweek.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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